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ERIC Number: EJ787930
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2002
Pages: 3
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1076-2175
EISSN: N/A
Gifted Students and the Adults Who Provide for Them: Lessons Learned from Terrorism
Cross, Tracy L.
Gifted Child Today, v25 n2 p33-35 Spr 2002
Every fall, approximately 300 gifted adolescents descend on the Ball State University campus to attend the Indiana Academy for Science, Mathematics, and Humanities (the Academy). The Academy is a state-funded residential school for academically gifted junior and senior high school aged students. It draws its students from across the state, creating a very diverse community of high-ability learners. The students come from over 120 high schools and the transition for the 160 juniors new to the Academy is always difficult. The staff of the school prepare for the onset of counseling and adjustment problems, bringing to bear a great deal of expertise and commitment. For years, the pattern has been that earliest concerns the Academy counseling staff must attend to revolve around homesickness, minor adjustment problems, roommate concerns, and then, midterms. This pattern was being observed again this year until September 11, 2001. Immediately thereafter, the pattern changed. Like most Americans (and the people of many other countries), Academy students were traumatized. A big difference this year was in the school's ability to provide effective counseling services given the fact that the adults at the Academy were very upset as well. Shock, worry, doubt, and fear were all visible in both the student and the adult faces. The need to provide a safe environment for the students may have been what enabled the school to carry on and the adults to begin the healing process themselves. This article describes what the recent tragedy taught--to deal with all people as human beings first, then applying appropriate counseling services based on the needs of the individual hold great promise for guiding the social and emotional development of gifted students.
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A